Mr ENTSCH —My question is directed to the Minister for Schools, Vocational Education and Training. Is the minister aware of comments about the difficulties employers experience taking on apprentices under Labor's complex and bureaucratic training system? Can the minister outline to the House what action the government is taking to improve the system?

Dr KEMP —I thank the member for Leichhardt for his question. He is a member who has been very concerned about disadvantaged young people in his electorate and has spoken to me on many occasions about them. It is, therefore, entirely understandable that he is interested in the new initiatives of the government to increase opportunities for young people to train for real jobs.

Unfortunately, as a result of the training policies that were put in place by the previous government, employers have been faced over the last 13 years with very substantial bureaucratic hurdles when they have wanted to employ an apprentice or a trainee. The fact that their policies have been dictated largely by the ACTU has meant that many small and medium sized businesses have been very hesitant to take on trainees because they do not want to invite a trade union into a previously non-unionised workplace.

The government is committed to greatly simplifying the training system and opening opportunities for young people. One of the important initiatives in this regard is going to be the introduction of one-stop apprenticeship shops, which will streamline the process for employers of hiring an apprentice or a trainee and ensure that employers have ready access to our new flexible and simplified national training arrangements.

These one-stop apprenticeship shops will have under one roof a number of services currently offered by a range of agencies both Commonwealth and state. They will provide a streamlined service in relation to both state and Commonwealth training regulations. They will also help businesses to process new flexible training arrangements and establish accredited on-the-job training and quality off-the-job training.

I have no doubt that one of the reasons why the member for Leichhardt has asked me this question is that Australia's first one-stop apprenticeship shop will be established shortly in his electorate in Cairns. It is an unprecedented agreement between the federal government and the Queensland government to establish three of these one-stop shops over the next few months. The Cairns pilot will be a partnership between the CES and the Queensland department of training. It will be sponsored by the Queensland Chamber of Commerce and Industry and it will have a board of management comprising industry and government representatives.

The federal government is also negotiating with other state and territory governments to establish further one-stop apprenticeship shops throughout Australia. The significance of this is that the government has once again delivered on the promise it made during the election campaign to provide training for young people which leads on to real jobs and to ensure that the training arrangements in this country are not those dictated by the ACTU but are those which meet the needs of business, large and small, for training which leads on to greater productivity, greater profitability and more jobs.